Herrerasaurus

Name

Herrerasaurus (her-RARE-uh-SOR-us)

Means

Herrera lizard

Period

Mid-Triassic

Where

South America: Argentina

Size

Length: 15 feet
Height: 7 feet
Weight: 463 - 772 lbs

With the discovery of an almost complete skeleton and skull in 1988 the small, lightly built Herrerasaurus was finally determined to be either a very early theropod or early saurischian (lizard-hipped dinosaur). But its pubis is very much like the pelvis of later ornithischians including hadrosaurs, ceratopsians and ankylosaurs. Herrerasaurus may be close to the ancestry of several major groups of dinosaurs.

This mid-Triassic dinosaur first appeared in a time when dinosaurs were not yet dominant and competed against larger, more powerful animals for food. It most likely captured small animals, including other smaller dinosaurs, through ambush and surprise.